There’s a writer named Joseph Campbell who studied myths and stories from around the world — ancient Greece, Native American legends, tribal folktales, old epics. After years of research, he noticed something curious. The stories were different, but the shape was the same.

He called it The Hero’s Journey and wrote about it in a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

It goes like this:

The hero starts in the “ordinary world.” Life is normal. Then, something calls them — a challenge or quest. At first, they resist. They don’t feel ready. But eventually, they cross the threshold and begin. Along the way, they face trials. Doubts. Setbacks. They meet allies. Sometimes a mentor. Sometimes a monster. They grow. They change. And when they return home, they’re no longer the same. Stronger. Wiser. Transformed.

That’s the myth.
But it’s also you.
And me.
And every runner.

Maybe your ordinary world was life before running. Maybe your call came from a doctor’s warning. Or a friend’s invite. Or a quiet voice in your head that said: “You should try.”

Maybe you're still in the resistance phase — thinking you're not ready. Or maybe you're already out the door, facing your own miles, your own doubts, your own little dragons.

Campbell’s point was that the journey is universal. We all live it — not just once, but again and again.

Every time you come back from injury.
Every time you toe the line of a race.
Every time you train for something you’re not sure you can finish.

That’s a hero’s journey.

What's yours right now?